European Union warns that it will not tolerate high imbalance in trade with China

Currently, the trade deficit of the European Union (EU) in its exchange with China reaches US$433,000 million (400,000 million euros). Furthermore, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, specified that this imbalance has doubled in the last two years.

“European leaders will not tolerate the trade imbalance in our relationship over time. We have tools to protect our market,” declared Ursula von der Leyen, in an interview with AFP on behalf of European Newsroom.

However, it insisted on its policy of not promoting a rupture or interruption of exchanges with the Asian giant, but rather promoting an effort to eliminate the risks of that relationship by working on negotiated solutions. In that sense, He pointed out that hidden subsidies, direct or indirect, that favor Chinese companies will also be examined, as well as the operating rules in the Asian giant market.

For the official, European companies cannot compete on an equal footing in the Chinese market, due to the “preferential treatment” granted to Chinese companies. The EU, she assured, defends “fair competition.”

Thus, Von der Leyen and the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, will be in the Chinese capital for the Beijing summit, which will be the first meeting of the main EU leaders with President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Qiang. since 2019.

Inequality in exports

In that sense, Von der Leyen emphasized that “the imbalance is visible” to the point that Chinese exports to the EU are three times more important than sales in the opposite direction.

“In other words, of every three containers that arrive from China to the European space, two of them return empty,” said the official.

During the summit in Beijing, an examination of the situation of Chinese electric cars, which are the subject of an investigation in the EU for suspicions of subsidies considered illegal, should also be included. Another delicate issue on the agenda will be the sanctions adopted by EU countries against Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine. In this scenario, various Chinese companies are accused of offering technological support for the Russian war effort in Ukraine.